Friday, February 7, 2014

Social Security Customer Service Is Mean And Inefficient

Social Security Administration's Cautionary Tale of Customer Service

A trip to try to correct a mistake in my Social Security
files revealed customer service at its worst and all that is wrong with
the government these days -- a government that seems to be inefficient,
mean and certainly not "for the people." In fact, everything about my
experience screamed in defiance of at least four of cardinal rules of
customer service. Rule #1: Put customers first.
My local Social Security office is a depressing place -- a gray building
with metal blue chairs that aren't meant to be sat in for 30 minutes,
let alone for the two to three hours that it takes to get any matter
resolved here.
I took my number and sat down among the sea of
resigned and frustrated patrons. Sitting next to me was a lovely woman
who works for the Montgomery County Schools. This was her second visit
because the first time around, she waited two hours and just as they
called her number, she had to return to work. We chatted as we watched
absolutely nothing happen and no movement in the crowded waiting room. Rule #2: Respect your customer's time (and investment of energy, effort, etc.).
About 90 minutes into my wait, a supervisor came out and told us the
computer had crashed, not just in their office but region-wide. Hmm, I
wondered, is the Social Security Administration site connected to
Healthcare.gov? For those of us whose business required a look at our
computer records, we were out of luck. Ninety-minutes of what could have
been productive time, earning income that could be taxed and go back
into social security wasted.Rule #3: Customer service means customer service.
Later in the day, I called the toll free number to see if I could make
an appointment. Since my issue didn't fit the menu, I had to talk to an
agent and that was a 45-minute wait. However, I opted to have them
call me back when my turn came up. And so 45-minutes later they did
call back and then put me on hold for 15 minutes. When I finally talked
to someone, I found out that for my issue, I could not make an
appointment. Yes, you guessed it, I have to come back.Rule #4: Respond. Quickly.
Steamed, I called my Congressman and to my dismay, no one answered the
phone, not even a machine at the constituent office. So I called the
office on Capitol Hill and got a lovely young man who could only
apologize and take my number and promised someone will call me back. Rule #5: Be pleasant, as well as helpful.
These experiences are text book examples of how not to deliver customer
service. To be sure budget cutbacks have reduced staffing and the
Patriot Act has put into place greater scrutiny but there must be ways
to automate some basic functions and structure the offices to run more
efficiently. And everyone in those offices and who answers the phones
could definitely use training in how to talk to people and maybe even
crack a smile.
If there were a competitor, I would surely take my business elsewhere. Sadly, there isn't.

About Me

I am a thoroughly civilized, humane, cosmopolitan, polished, restrained, enjoyable, entertaining Info-maniac. I am a staunch exponent of individual dignity, freedom, equal access to legal services, and equal protection of the law. Here I hope to demonstrate my emotional restraint, humbleness of sentiment, psychological subtlety, lucid style, and simple language, without evading political reality or eternal truth. Daily I am excited that I have the right to create the beginning of a new self and to challenge old habits and attitudes I no longer choose to accept. I choose to relax in the present with my direction firmly in mind. I have an enormous capacity for creative and clever ideas and thoughts. It is phenomenal what I can do. I am capable of so much learning and absorbing a lot of information. My potential is a source of pleasant surprise for me.
Each day, I increase in knowledge, skills, strength, faith, and abilities.With each adventure, the boundary hemming in my potential expands easily to accomodate my growth and achievements.